Emerging Stocks Extend Rally as Earnings Buttress Stimulus Bets

Emerging Stocks Extend Rally as Earnings Buttress Stimulus Bets

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Emerging-market stocks headed for the longest streak of weekly gains since Russia’s Crimean invasion ended a similar run in March 2014, on signs corporate earnings are recovering even as central banks extend measures to nurture economic growth. Chinese shares rallied the most in a month as property companies advanced on speculation merger deals will accelerate. Hungary led gains in eastern European equities as the nation’s economy grew more than forecast….

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Impacting Investing: An Innovative tools to drive Infrastructure in Africa

Impacting Investing: An Innovative tools to drive Infrastructure in Africa

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Africa’s infrastructure gap It is a well-documented fact that there exists a significant infrastructure deficit in Africa1 to support the continent’s expanding economies, rapid urbanisation, and surging trade levels. While total spending in infrastructure is growing at a rapid pace globally, Africa’s share continues to remain stagnant. As a result, economic growth in many African countries is constrained by poor infrastructure, particularly in energy and roads3 . In addition,…

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Zambia Votes After Violence Mars Close-Run Presidential Race

Zambia Votes After Violence Mars Close-Run Presidential Race

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambians began voting Thursday in elections that are set to be a rematch of last year’s neck-and-neck contest between President Edgar Lungu and his main rival, Hakainde Hichilema, following a violence-marred campaign. Less than 28,000 votes separated the two men the last time they squared off in a snap poll 19 months ago, after President Michael Sata died in office. While incumbent Lungu, 59, has enjoyed blanket state-media coverage of his campaign, an economic…

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South Africa Sued to Protect Recipients of $9.7 Billion in Welfare

South Africa Sued to Protect Recipients of $9.7 Billion in Welfare

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa’s government is facing a counter legal challenge in a dispute with Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. with a rights group demanding that it protect welfare recipients from companies that are allegedly selling the nation’s poorest people goods and services they don’t need and deducting payments from grants paid to them by the state. Black Sash Trust, a human rights activist group, on Wednesday applied to the High Court in…

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South Africa’s Economy Regains Rank as Africa’s Biggest on Rand

South Africa’s Economy Regains Rank as Africa’s Biggest on Rand

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital; Markets in Africa: South Africa’s economy regained the position of Africa’s largest in dollar terms more than two years after losing it to Nigeria as the value of the nations’ currencies moved in opposite directions. Based on gross domestic product at the end of 2015 published by the International Monetary Fund, the size of South Africa’s economy is $301 billion at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP is $296 billion. That’s…

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Old Mutual Drops Most in Six Weeks as Profit Misses Estimates

Old Mutual Drops Most in Six Weeks as Profit Misses Estimates

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Old Mutual Plc, the London-based insurer planning to split into separate businesses, dropped the most in more than six weeks as first-half profit missed analyst estimates and the company said the rest of the year will be fraught with challenges. The stock slid as much as 6.3 percent on Thursday, the biggest intraday decline since June 24, before paring losses to trade 5.6 percent down at 212.90 pence as of 9:26…

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Ethiopia Key U.S. Africa Ally Faces More Unrest After Scores Killed

Ethiopia Key U.S. Africa Ally Faces More Unrest After Scores Killed

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Capital Markets in Africa: Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants in East Africa, faces the prospect of further unrest after a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations held by its two largest communities over the weekend that Amnesty International said left 97 people dead. Security forces opened fire on protesters in the country’s Amhara region, with the worst bloodshed in the northern city of Bahir Dar where at least 30 people…

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